Erich Hoepner: Hitler's Reluctant Traitor

Erich Hoepner was a young Officer in WW1, who became a Panzer Commander in WW2, playing a leading role in the battles of Poland and France.

Hoepner stands out both as one of the most talented and loyal servants of the German military. Indoctrinated into the Nazi regime as he rose up through the ranks, in time he became conflicted between his personal beliefs and his support for the Nazi regime, and Hitler.

At Dunkirk he protested against atrocities by the SS-Division Totenkopf, calling Theodor Eicke, ‘a butcher’.

In the crucial Battle of Moscow Hoepner clashed with both von Kluge and Hitler, and was dismissed from his post. Between 1942 and 1944 Hoepner became part of the military resistance against Hitler, was arrested after Stauffenberg’s failed assassination attempt. His public trial resulted in his brutal hanging on 8 August 1944, and his family sent to concentration camps.

Philip Kay-Bujak has…